If you like yoga, you have to try these exercises

Dedicated to your weekly yoga sessions? That’s brilliant. But it’s even better to mix things up a little, so here’s how to upgrade your fitness routine.

Dedicated to your weekly yoga sessions? That’s brilliant. But it’s even better to mix things up a little, so here’s how to upgrade your fitness routine.

Yoga is a hugely popular form of exercise for women in their 50s and over, and for very good reasons. It promotes a feeling of calm energy in both mind and body, stretches out the muscles for a long, lean look, busts stress, and can be practised alone or in a group, at home or at the gym.

But for all its benefits, it can be easy to get into a fitness rut – and variety is the key to keeping healthy as we get older.

So we’ve rounded up some more workouts that are the perfect evolution of your yoga training to help you keep your fitness routine fresh.

If you like how energetic you feel after yoga, try… swimming

The benefits of swimming are endless. Water provides a fantastic resistance workout and challenges every muscle group while supporting your weight.

Working out in water is a great way to recover from injury (just be sure to take professional advice first), or maintain fitness and mobility if you suffer with a chronic condition such as arthritis.

Whether you prefer a longer, steady-state session or tougher training that mixes up fast and slow laps, a half hour spent at the pool will leave you feeling refreshed and energised.

If you like the body benefits of yoga, try… a dance class

Get your cha-cha-cha on and lose a few pounds – what’s not to like? You’ll work up a sweat during fast and furious dance workouts, which are as challenging for your mind as they are for your body. You can burn anywhere between 300-600 calories an hour, depending on how hard you work, but the best thing about dance classes is how much fun they are.

If embarrassing leaks are putting you off the idea of jumping around, throw a couple of Always Discreet Pads into your bag for complete confidence about your sensitive bladder during even the most energetic of routines.

If you like the calming power of yoga, try… tai chi

Slow things down with tai chi, an ancient Chinese form of exercise that’s sometimes referred to as a moving meditation. It combines deep breathing with flowing movements to create a dynamic sequence of precise postures designed to calm both mind and body.

The combination of gentle physical exercise, stretching and mindfulness make it a powerful antidote to stress and anxiety, while studies have also found tai chi benefits health by lowering blood pressure.

If you like the joint-boosting power of yoga… try jogging

Yes, really! Far from damaging joints and ligaments, studies show that running may actually improve the health of the joint and surrounding tissues, protecting against the development of osteoarthritis.

And there’s no reason not to take it up in your 50s and beyond, simply start slow and build up – alternate running and walking, for instance, building up to running for a full 20 minutes and extending your time from there.

Add in a strength-training session to build up the muscles around your joints, and get a little yoga in there, too, to stretch and lengthen everything out. It’s a super-effective regime that helps keep you healthy and young.

Taking the plunge

I didn't feel like forking out an expensive monthly gym fee without seeing if I could fit the time in and the classes were for me .I did 2 trails via Groupon and Living Social sites and found 1 of them was suitable so I joined .So glad I did .New friends and an excuse not to go out eating all the time . 15lbs lighter too .